


Windows To Our World

by MaresThird



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: 2020 Winter Collection, Christen stock broker, F/F, Fluff, I Don't Even Know, Love, Marriage Proposal, No Angst, Shocking I know, Tobin window dresser, happy holigays, the holidays are making me mushy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28238025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaresThird/pseuds/MaresThird
Summary: Tobin knows just how she's going to propose to her long time girlfriend Christen.
Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press
Comments: 19
Kudos: 196
Collections: Preathfics Winter 2020 Collection





	Windows To Our World

.

May 15th 

Tobin knows she’s going to propose. She needs to. She wants more than anything to be able to call Chris her wife. She just hasn’t thought of the perfect opportunity or time to do so. She wants it to be perfect, a surprise, something Chris wouldn’t expect. She is so smart about everything, Tobin wants this to be something she doesn’t see coming from a mile away. It needs to be unusual, something Chris wouldn’t think was on her radar. Once Christen suspects something’s up, she can sniff it out quickly. The woman has a nose for this kind of stuff. 

Tobin loves Christen with all of her heart and they’ve already had the talk about marriage. Actually, they’ve had multiple talks about marriage and what their future will look like. Get married, get a dog, have a baby, maybe have a couple more babies. They want to stay in the city for a few years and reevaluate the plan before needing to send the oldest off to kindergarten. Make sure the schools in the area are up to snuff, that kind of thing. This was The Plan. 

But, before they can start The Plan, a proposal needs to happen. Tobin isn’t sure why she feels it falls on her shoulders, to be the one to propose. It’s a deep need she feels to drop down on one knee and confess her undying love to Chris and present her with a ring. She’s daydreamed about it often. In fact, she daydreamed about the act of proposing even before she knew Christen. She’s kind of a romantic that way. But this feels big, monumental even and she knows she has to do this with a certain level of intelligence, with symbolism and multi-layered meanings that Chris will absorb while it happens and then later review with her in private. She’s certain that’s how it will go down, she knows Chris that well. 

Dating since college, the two have been together for eight years. They’ve agreed it’s in their future, but with how Christen pauses lately when they pass a jewelry store window or see a wedding dress shop…she knows it should be sooner than later. 

From her place on a surfboard in the ocean, lazily bobbing in the water, Tobin watches Christen relaxing on her towel in the sand with a book in hand. Tobin’s chest surges with unbridled love for the woman on the beach, sitting there on a towel and reading a book Tobin would have no interest in reading. They’re in LA visiting Christen’s parents for their anniversary. They plan to come back for Christmas, since they went to Tobin’s family last year in Rhode Island. For Thanksgiving, she and Chris will host Tobin’s family so they see them for one of the holidays. Tobin is usually exhausted at Thanksgiving, but she’s determined to make it work, to plan very carefully so everything goes smoothly. It shouldn’t really be a problem, hosting family holidays is pretty relaxed to her. It just takes some planning ahead and she’s very good at that. 

She finds it funny that to the outside world and even some family, people perceive Tobin to be the laid back one and Chris to be the stringent planner. Truth is, they both are, just in different styles. Tobin’s job requires her to think ahead in terms of months while Christen’s usually is in terms of years. Chris doesn’t find it as amusing as she does, she hates when Tobin brings it up, feeling that she projects an image in being controlling or something over Tobin. Tobin just laughs it off, she doesn’t care what the others think, she knows the truth. 

Tobin’s job is the lead window dresser for the State Street Marshall Field’s department store in Chicago and she’s in charge of the window displays. Her main responsibility is the design, construction and implementation of their Christmas windows, particularly the thirteen windows on State Street. The window unveiling is held on Thanksgiving evening after the parade with much fanfare and media coverage. It’s a lofty position and one she worked her ass off to achieve. She’s held the position for five years, studying alongside the famous Canadian Arthur Fraser for nearly three years when she started as a lowly lackey fresh out of college. Arthur personally recommended her for the job to Vlatko Andonovsky, President of Marshall Field’s. Vlatko trusted the Canadian and the job was hers. 

Tobin had graduated from college with a degree in engineering and a minor in technological studies and no real direction of what she wanted to do. She was artistic but had felt the world was filled with unemployed graphic designers and she preferred to paint anyway and there wasn’t much of a market for that. Her Dad was a contractor, so she had many summers being educated using tools and had grown fond of having the skills to create things form her bare hands. This job suited her perfectly. 

Tobin cleverly wove technology through her displays with qr codes discreetly near each product within the displays for viewers to easily scan and check them out and even make a purchase without entering the store. The first year she did it, the store realized a bump in sales in just the window items displayed by nearly forty percent. Vlatko was impressed with her ingenuity, artistic abilities and presence of mind that sales were the bottom line of the displays and yet respected the need to still have magical displays that capture the feeling of Christmas. After her first two years of being the head designer, he trusted her judgement completely and gave her a wide berth with her ideas, loving the popularity and the press coverage Marshall Field’s received in anticipation of the windows each year and the praise of them after they were revealed. Tobin’s windows managed to capture snapshots of humanity, strange as it may seem, but people felt something when they slowly walked by. 

It’s that time of year that Tobin has been searching for an idea of how to implement the theme this year for the windows and connect them to products. The day before they left for LA, Tobin learned in a meeting the theme for this season is Love. That’s when the idea hits her. It’s going to take a lot of work, even with it being the middle of May. She’ll have nearly six months create the displays for thirteen windows. She’s meeting with the buyers the first week of June to learn the main products they want promoted in the windows and then she’ll have to figure out how to incorporate as many of those items with her idea. It’s going to be tricky. 

She nearly falls off her surfboard when it hits her: she’s going to use the windows to propose to Christen. 

XXXX

June 3rd 

“Thank you for taking the time to meet me, sir,” Tobin says as she enters Vlatko’s plush office. 

“Tobin,” he smiles genially, “it’s Vlatko, remember?” he gestures for her to take a seat. 

Tobin nods, “I have my story board for the windows as well as to ask a personal favor,” She’s bouncing her heel nervously, hoping this goes well. 

“Show me the story first and then we’ll get to that,” he proposes easily, coming around the desk to sit in the other leather chair closer to her. She hands him twelve 9” x 12” foam boards with the sketches on them. He looks at them silently, smiling to himself as he studies each one. When he’s finished, he looks up. 

“I love how you have used the theme and are using childhood photos on big screens and all of products,” he says, “this is outstanding,” he says warmly, “Now, what is the favor?” 

“Sir,” Tobin says nervously, “um,” she clears her throat, “How would you feel if the windows represented a love story and ended with a proposal?” 

Vlatko regards her carefully, “Yours?” 

She nods quickly. 

“I love it,” he responds immediately, “do it. I trust your judgement,” 

“Now, sir,” 

“Vlatko,” 

“Um, Vlatko, you do realize there will probably be push back from people who aren’t on board with homosexuality, right?” 

“Let them,” he shrugs, “and I will tell them that Marshall Field’s accepts everyone’s race, color, creed, every gay, bi-sexual and trans,” he says firmly, “You know Christen will say yes, right?” 

Tobin grins, “Yeah,” she says, “it’s time and we’ve talked about it.” 

“So, it’s a win-win for us and you,” he laughs, “I’ll take any heat that may arise,” he assures her, “don’t you worry about it,” he leafs through the boards once more and looks at her, “where’s the last one?” 

“Here,” Tobin hands it over. He looks at it and smiles widely, “perfect.” He stands up, “You’ve outdone yourself Tobin,” he says genuinely, “and I can’t wait to see it.” 

Tobin stands and accepts the foam boards and suddenly they are pressed up against her chest as she’s hugged from the tall Macedonian. “Congratulations,” he says warmly, “it’s about time!” 

“Thanks,” Tobin smiles, feeling relieved and valued and impressed yet again by her boss. “I really appreciate this,” 

“Tobin,” Vlatko says, “I predict this year’s display will be the talk of not just the town, but of the country in the best way possible,” 

“I hope so,” 

“It will,” he assures her, “what do they say? Love is love.” He walks her to the door, “And love always wins.” 

XXXX

June 20th 

“Honey, you look so tired,” Christen frowns when Tobin walks through the door of their two-story brownstone in the North Side Andersonville neighborhood two hours later than usual. 

“Hi,” Tobin greets her tiredly, “how was your day?” 

“Mine was fine,” Christen replies, already out of her business suit and into comfortable shorts and t-shirt. “What were you doing today? Weightlifting?” 

Tobin gives her a feeble grin, “Would you believe I’ve spent the entire day in front of my computer?” She’s been pouring over family photos sent to her by her Mother and Stacy. She also worked out with Stacy to have them come to Thanksgiving as a surprise to Chris. 

When she shared her idea with Allie, her second in command and the social media head, her proposal plan and showed her the storyboards, Allie suggested including all of their friends in the photo slideshows. Tobin thought it was cool and she started sending out emails to them, asking just for scanned photos of specific things for a project. Most of them were unfazed by the request, sending them without question. Those who did want to know what they would be used for were thrilled to be a part of the windows for the holidays. Tobin kept the proposal to herself. 

Christen raises her eyebrows at her, “Design?” Tobin nods, setting her backpack down on a kitchen chair, “And I finished it,” And she did. She was able to match photos of her and Chris to all the parts of the display she needed. It was exhausting. Her eyes feel as if they will fall out of their sockets in little balls of flames. Allie, her co-worker, was going through the photos from their friends. 

“Yay!” Christen claps, knowing what kind of accomplishment it is. “Signed off, too?” she asks, wondering if the heads of purchasing have approved of her choices and Vlatko has given her the green light to proceed. 

“Yes!” Tobin answers emphatically and smiles widely at her. Christen moves closer to take her in her arms, “I’m so happy for you,” she murmurs, her lips brushing up against Tobin’s cheek, “smooth sailing now,” she says and kisses her. 

Tobin relaxes in her embrace, “I’m so tired,” she moans against Christen’s neck, “can I nap?” 

“Of course,” Christen replies agreeably, “I’m so happy you don’t have to worry about it over this weekend,” 

“I know, right? We can just relax and enjoy it,” Tobin sighs again, “Can we order in?” 

“Of course,” Christen smiles, happy that Tobin will be able to leave work at her normal time for a few more months until crunch time occurs with her windows. She doesn’t ask about them, having told Tobin years ago she wanted to be surprised when she saw them for the first time. That doesn’t mean Tobin can’t talk about them, she just doesn’t give away the whole theme and gist of her story. This year, it really works in her favor. 

Christen works as a broker, having the mind for numbers and the nose for making money. When they were dating as sophomores in college, she convinced Tobin to invest two thousand dollars of her hard earned money saved up from her part time job at a nearby art store with her and with their combined four grand, by the time they graduated, she had created a nest egg of over ten thousand. They moved to Chicago immediately after graduation when Christen landed a prime job at a large brokerage firm in the city. That’s when Tobin found the Marshall Field’s job from an ad in the newspaper and felt compelled to check it out. Christen carefully balanced their investments, creating a nice mix of stable bonds, the more fluctuating mixed portfolios and still out performed the market annually. When Christen shrewdly invested in fledging marijuana and medicinal companies and they went legal in so many states five years later, they hit a financial windfall and after living in an apartment since they arrived, they were able to purchase their home in cash.  
Between their salaries and Christen’s wise investments, they were very comfortable. And Christen’s clients were very pleased with her, which her pleased her bosses very much as well. Over the years, she’s been approached by multiple head hunters representing competitors looking to whisk her away. She’s remained steadfast with her company, the family oriented business appealing to her. She liked that she knew the names of her coworkers and was good friends with many of them. 

“I love you,” Tobin murmurs, thinking how lucky she is and kisses her. 

“I love you too,” Christen smiles, “now, do you want a snack or just go take a nap?” 

“I had something on the train,” Tobin replies, stepping back to yawn and stretch her arms above her head, “sleepy,” 

“Go sleep, honey,” Christen says lovingly, “I’ll wake you in an hour,” 

“Okay,” Tobin yawns, and makes her way towards the stairs to their bedroom. 

“Pizza?” Christen calls out. 

“Yes, please,” Tobin answers as she drags herself up the stairs. 

XXXX

August 26th 

“This is going to be amazing,” Allie says confidently as she lifts the custom made pieces for the display to hold the products off the 3-D printer. That was another innovation Tobin brought to the store, her computer knowledge. They use recycle plastic and are able to recycle almost ninety percent of the items they make, thereby saving money and helping the environment. It helps the store maintain it’s Green certification that they weren’t aware of and they now enjoy some tax breaks because of it. Vlatko really appreciated Tobin’s initiative in bringing that to his attention. 

Allie is Tobin’s right hand woman, her collaborator and best friend. Together they are force when it comes to production. Allie’s talents lie in creating unusual visual displays for products and making the colors of each window blend. It was her idea to tastefully represent the rainbow in every window in a subtle manner. She'll use the LED lights to create waves of colors slowly morphing shades throughout the windows. It's subtle, but it's there. She’s smart and clever. She also manages the store’s social media accounts and keeps things interesting there with interactive contests and games. 

“I really like this display,” Tobin nods, grabbing the Tonka truck and placing it on it, “It’s perfect!” she grins at her. 

Allie buffs her nails on her shirts and blows of them, “Like you’d ever doubt my skills?” 

“Never,” Tobin grins, removing the truck and placing it back on the shelf with the other toys and products. The stand will need to be painted and she lifts it to where the others are waiting. Her and Allie agreed to paint them bright white and lightly sprinkle silver glitter on them so they catch the lights. 

They’re working in their studio slash workroom located down in the depths of the store. All of the products they need have arrived from the manufacturers and now Allie is putting her design ideas to use with innovative ways to display them. These upright stands will rotate, powered by small electric pulleys on the base floor of the window. They have a mock window down here that’s built to spec and here is where they build each one to their liking and then deconstruct it carefully with everything tagged and then stored away. 

“What are you doing for Labor Day weekend?” 

“You’re coming to the cookout, right?” Tobin looks up quickly, thinking Allie had said her and her husband Bati would be there. 

“Yeah, I was just wondering if you’re doing anything else,” she shrugs. 

“Red Stars are playing Portland,” Tobin arches an eyebrow, “wanna come to the match? Alex and Serv are and so is Ali and Ash,” 

“Will Kling and Sonnett have time to hang out?” Allie asks about their friends who are professional soccer players. Tobin, Chris, Allie, Ashlyn, Kling, Moe and Sonnett all played soccer in college. Over the years, they’ve become friends with many players from the different teams in the league. Tobin and Christen often opened their house to guests and as a place for their pro soccer friends to hangout, away from fans, so the they could relax. 

Tobin grins, “They’re staying with us,” she informs her, “and Moe and Alyssa and some of the other girls will be around.” 

“For the barbeque?” Allie inquires. 

Tobin grins again, “I think both teams are coming,” 

Allie claps, “Remember, I’m bringing a tray of mac and cheese and my famous tortilla rolls,” she says excitedly, “and Bati is making a huge tray of his rice dish.” 

“I know,” Tobin nods, “it’s all Chris has been talking about,” 

“I can’t wait,” Allie enthuses, “we’re going to have so much fun!” 

“Yep!” Tobin laughs, thinking about how crazy the soccer players can get. 

XXXX

November 12th 

“That should do it,” Allie announces and does a little dance in the workshop. 

“Hell yeah!” Tobin exclaims, giving her a high five. They’ve finished all of the displays and packed them for transport, the items ready to be moved through the store to the windows to be decorated. 

“How’s the response from the contest?” Tobin asks, grabbing a broom to clean up the floor. 

“Oh, we have so many entries!” she exclaims, “Tomorrow we need to go through them and start choosing which ones we should use.” 

“Yeah,” Tobin nods, “that will be a nice, easy, fun and lazy thing to do,” she grins, stopping the broom mid-push to twist her torso. It’s been a physical day preparing the displays for transport and she’s beginning to feel it in her muscles. 

Allie had approach Tobin about creating a contest to people around the city to enter their own holiday photos for a chance to be included in the windows this year. It would pump up the excitement for the windows and make it an interactive experience. Plus, those who were chosen would come to visit the display and maybe see something to purchase. Tobin set up a meeting with Vlatko and brought Allie with her to explain her idea. Tobin was a big believer in sharing credit where it was due. 

Vlatko loved the idea and insisted that the winners should receive prizes and offered up $100.00 gift cards and asked they chose 100 winners. Names would be announced a week before the unveiling of the windows and the gift cards would be sent out by mail. 

XXXX

November 23rd 

“I love you,” Tobin says and she kisses Christen softly, being careful not to smudge her lipstick. It’s seven in the morning and she’s just gotten home from work. Her team is assembling the windows this week, working nights so as not to disturb the shoppers as they move their displays throughout the store. Christen is up and ready to leave to for work, looking hot as hell in her black power suit. With her looking like that, it makes Tobin wish she had been home an hour earlier to take it off her. 

“Hope your meeting goes well, babe,” Tobin says, stuffing her beanie in her pocket and shedding her winter jacket and placing it in the closet. She removes Christen’s long wool coat, holding it up for her to slip into. “I’m sure it will,” Christen replies confidently, turning to face her and give her a kiss. She’s meeting with her immediate boss and two of her coworkers today. It’s a lunch meeting and she was told to block out the rest of the day for it. She doesn’t know exactly what it is about, but she trusts her boss Becky Sauerbrunn and is good friends with Tierna and Mal, both young brokers with excellent minds, sharp skills and the good intuition needed to judge the markets. 

Tobin kisses her again and cautions her to be careful with the snow, how some spots on the sidewalk are slippery. Standing in the open door, Tobin watches Christen walk away, smiling when she turns back to wave at her. Tobin returns the wave and shuts the door and she takes off her boots, strips off her flannel shirt while leaving on the thermal one on. It’s chilly working in windows during the night. She pads to the kitchen, makes herself a sandwich and eats in front of the TV. When she finishes eating, she calls her Mom to check in and to make sure everything is still in place for Thanksgiving. She calls her sisters, she calls her brother, she calls Christen’s sisters and she calls Stacy. Everything is set. She checks in with the jeweler who happily shares that the ring has arrived. All they need to do is clean it and she can pick it up tomorrow. 

Tobin had designed the ring herself, working with the jeweler who was impressed with her creation. Daintily crafted from gold with a thin band and a two carat main diamond, she had added four other smaller diamonds along the one side in a swirling pattern, each stone symbolizing a benchmark of their lives to date. Dating, moving to Chicago together, living together and buying their home were their big four life events, leading to the large stone of their biggest commitment: marriage. 

Satisfied with herself and everything being set, she went to bed, setting her alarm for three-thirty, giving herself enough time to have dinner ready when Chris gets home. She’s asleep before her head hits the pillow. 

“They want to do what?” Tobin blinks, handing Christen a glass of wine and then sitting down next to her. Christen has just arrived home and hasn’t even changed from her work outfit, insisting she wanted to talk to Tobin about her meeting first. Tobin thought maybe a glass of wine would be appropriate this talk. 

“They want to leave the company,” Christen repeats, her face flushed with excitement and maybe from the three martinis she’d consumed throughout the afternoon. “And they want me to join them and open our own brokerage firm.” 

“And what do you think about that?” Tobin asks intently, pretty shocked at this development. 

“I think it’s wonderful,” Christen smiles at her, “Becky has a feeling the company is going to get bought out,” she states, “and now that I’ve thought about it, I can see it happening as well. Just by how Stu and Dan are acting. Something is up and the economy is decent and the company is robust. I’d sell if someone offered the right price.” She shifts to face her, “Plus, I know at least sixty percent of my clients will go with me,” she adds with a confident smirk. 

“You said Stu mentioned something about wanting to spend more time at his lake house in the summer,” Tobin remembers, wondering if that was a clue.

Christen takes a drink and nods at her, her eyes a little glassy but glowing with excitement. “Do you know what this means?” 

Tobin lifts her eyebrows and a hand, clueless. 

“Our plan is to work from our homes,” Christen rushes out, “we’d meet clients in coffee shops or rent out hourly temp spaces at Navy Pier,” she continues, “Needing an office is getting outdated, everything is done electronically, except in rare instances.” She takes a long swallow of wine and looks at Tobin dreamily, “We could start a family,” she’s positively glowing now. 

“We could?” Tobin’s eyes are as big as saucers. “Really?” her voice cracks with emotion. 

Christen shrugs and saucily lifts an eyebrow, “I mean, I’d like to get married first,” she says, “be an honest couple and all that,” she says with a smirk. 

Tobin smiles widely, “Yeah, I’ll get to work on that,” she says with a smirk right back at her, knowing they’ll be one step closer to that goal in just two days. “You’d be able to take off time and all for a baby?” 

Christen nods, “I made sure of that,” she smiles slyly, “it was one of my conditions on doing this with them,” 

“So, you’re going to do it?” Tobin asks, she’s excited for her, this seems like a great opportunity. She’s trusts Christen’s judgement without a doubt. If she says it’s a good thing, then it’s a good thing. 

“Well, I wanted to run it by you first,” Christen explains, “it’s a big decision and one with some risk. I’ll be making about ten percent less than I do right now for the first year most likely,” she says, “We’ll each be putting up a percentage of our commissions towards business expenses,” she explains, “and I know it won’t hurt us too much, but it is a pay cut,” 

“If you’re not worried about it then neither am I,” Tobin states quickly, “You should go for it,” she enthuses, “we could finally get a dog!” she exclaims, knowing how much Chris would love that. 

Christen’s eyes grow wide now, she hadn’t thought if it, “Yeah,” she says slowly, turning over the idea in her head, “I’d be home,” she realizes, “we _could_ get a dog,” she repeats slowly, giving Tobin a grin. 

“Our first child,” Tobin chuckles and then Christen giggles and the two laugh like loons. They kiss each other and then kiss some more and then set their glasses down to full on make out. Then Christen stands to lead Tobin up the stairs to the bedroom and Tobin internally cheers that she’ll be able to take that outfit off Chris after all. 

XXXX

November 25th 

“It’s beautiful,” Vlatko marvels, as he walks down the sidewalk with Allie and Tobin, “you both did an incredible job.” It’s four in the morning and he had come down for a sneak peek on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. “I don’t know how you did it, but I _feel_ something in my chest as I look this,” he marvels. He stops to study a window. “How did you get my family?” he grins at them, “You got ahold of my wife, didn’t you!” he laughs when they nod. 

He stands before the final window and watches the screen as the oversized jemstones reflect colors on his face, smiling to himself. “And you’ll be here, with the ring?” he asks Tobin. 

She takes a deep breath and nods, “Yeah,” she lets out, beginning to feel nervous. 

He places a hand on her shoulder, “It’s going to be amazing,” he says warmly, “I don’t doubt yourself,” he grins, “she’ll say yes.” 

Tobin grins, “Yeah,” she agrees, “I can’t wait,” 

“Well, I’ll see you both tomorrow at six,” he says, “I think I can still get home and take a quick nap before coming back here,” 

“See ya,” they say as he walks off. They scoot inside quickly to close the drapes in the windows. 

Later that Thanksgiving morning…

“Come here,” Christen calls as she takes a seat on the couch. Tobin finishes washing her hands and dries them, tossing the dish towel on the counter before joining her. “Lay down,” Christen instructs, scooting over so Tobin can lay her head on her lap. “We’ve got an hour and a half before everyone gets here,” she says quietly, “and you are taking a nap,” 

Tobin shifts to get comfortable, looking up at her full of affection, “I love you,” she says and puckers her lips. Christen smiles and leans to down to kiss her, “I love you, too,” she says, leaning back and slowly stroking Tobin’s hair, “Now, close your eyes and relax for a bit,” she soothes, “I don’t want you falling asleep at the table while we eat,”

Tobin and Christen had been blessed to be raised by parents that took time to show them life skills while they still lived at home. They learned about cooking, shopping, making appetizers, meals and the art of entertaining. When they first lived together while in college, they were one of few in their friend group that could successfully bring a whole meal to the table hot at the same time and the food was not only edible, it was very tasty. They understood the traits of being welcoming and entertaining and seeing to their guests’ needs. While there was some pressure to create the Thanksgiving meal, it wasn’t a daunting task since they both had experience. They split responsibilities and did as much prep work ahead of time that let’s them enjoy this quiet moment. 

Tobin falls deeply asleep much quicker than Christen anticipated even knowing the poor thing was exhausted. The shift to working nights for a week really messed up Tobin’s circadian rhythm. Christen looks down at her, feeling overwhelmed with love for Tobin. She’s so lucky to be loved by her. When Tobin loves someone, she loves them passionately and completely. Tobin brings out her best qualities and helps to keep her less desirable ones in check. She listens and has the rare talent of knowing what Christen means which can be different than the words she’s using to express herself. She keeps her calm when she gets overwhelmed at times, she encourages her and is always her biggest cheerleader. She’s patient with her when she gets frazzled and Tobin knows exactly when to give her space or smother her with love. Christen loves how they can be silent together and it not be awkward and how they can find a million things to talk about in wide ranges of topics. 

Christen feels she helps keep Tobin tethered when she gets so engrossed in her work. She reminds her to eat, she sets aside naps for them when she knows Tobin is stretching herself thin. She encourages her to work on her own art, to make sure she has time to paint just for pleasure. She listens when Tobin needs to vent about work or verbally process something that’s bothering her. Her and Tobin are usually on the same page over ninety percent of the time and it delights her that Tobin plans just as much as she does. Tobin’s planner is a disaster to look at, but she knows what all the notes mean. Christen’s planner is much more organized, yet they arrive at the same destination. They really work well together. 

That afternoon with the families…

Tobin knows she’s behaving like an idiot, she does. Still, she can’t stop looking at the clock and triple checking to make sure they aren’t going to be late. Her and Christen’s sisters haven’t even finished washing the dishes and she’s ready to burst to get the show on the road. A warm hand on her leg makes her turn her head and see Christen smiling at her with her eyes full of amusement. “We’ll leave in ten minutes, okay?” 

Tobin nods her head rapidly, like a child anticipating going to see Santa Claus. She just needs to be there, even though Allie has the button to press to open the curtains. It’s not like she has any responsibilities other than getting down on one knee at the thirteenth window. Still, she’s anxious to get going. The ring is in her jacket pocket and she keeps resisting the urge to check that it’s still there and hasn’t disappeared since she put it there this morning. 

Christen was shocked at the arrival of her parents and sisters, standing there with her mouth hung open, unable to produce words for a full minute. Her Dad hugged her and said they wanted to see snow and Tobin invited them so it all worked out. Tobin just smiled and gave her a shrug. 

They took the train downtown because both of their families think it’s a novelty and it’s five forty-five when they approach the store. It’s the whole group and she’s pleased to see Allie waving her over. Vlatko is there with his wife and their kids and introductions are made all around. He’s met most of Tobin’s family before and then Tobin sees Alex and Servando bundled up along with Ali And Ashlyn and their four year old daughter. Moe Brian and Alyssa Mautz from the Red Stars are there with a group of other players and they all huddle to together chatting while they wait. Most of them had been there for the parade and are a little tipsy from their flasks, so they were looking forward to seeing the windows and then getting out of the old. 

At six o’clock on the dot, the majestic sounds of trumpets over the public address system signal the start of the proceedings. On the large temporary video screen placed just under the Marshall Field’s distinctive sign, Vlatko’s face greets everyone and he gives a little speech about tradition and love and how he hopes they all like this years’ theme of love. Then he grandly calls for the drapes to be opened. Allie presses the key fob and a cheer goes up from the crowd as the drapes pull back to reveal the windows. Their group waits for the mass rush to clear out a little bit before taking their stroll. Christen has her arm wrapped around Tobin’s, snuggly pressed up against her as they slowly approach the first window. 

It’s decorated in pale pinks, blues, greens, yellows and purples and filled with the newest baby dolls, baby toys and a retro stroller along with diaper bags and the latest in designer baby clothes and shoes. The large monitor displays a collage of photos of new parents with their child, happy infants in their cribs and toddlers crawling and getting into trouble. Some of the photos went back to the late eighties and Tobin is smiling as she waits for anyone to recognize themselves. 

“Hey, that was me!” Ashlyn shouts, pointing at the screen. 

Then Tobin’s sister Perry laughs, “That was me!” 

Tobin feels a hand on her shoulder, her Mom smiling at her, “You included everyone,” she says warmly, her eyes glistening with happiness, “you’re so sweet,” 

“Thanks, Ma,” Tobin smiles at her over her shoulder, feeling Christen pressing against her even more. 

“I see what you did,” Christen grins at her knowingly, “honey,” she does this almost pouty frown with her lower lip jutting out and the corners of her mouth upturned, feeling emotional. 

Tobin gives her a quick peck of a kiss on her cheek, “Keep going,” she’s making Christen lead the way to the second window. It’s a winter scene of toddlers and youngsters are playing in the snow. They all fawn over the photos of Christen and Tobin wrapped up in layers of snow clothes. It’s here that their siblings and friends and some of the contest winners start coming into more photos and there are exclamations from them in the crowd. When photos appear of younger Cody and Stacy and Cindy and Jeff, they all howl good naturedly with laughter at their fashion choices and hair cuts. 

As they make their way across the storefront, the windows continue with elementary age photos with associated toys and sports equipment. Again, the photos of Chris and Tobin are a hit. When they hit those awkward teen years, Allie claims she’s going to pee her pants from laughter at the photo choices…until a couple of hers pop up on the screen. Bati laughs loudly, throwing his head back and enduring her playfully beating on his arm.

The windows cover junior high, high school, college all filled with clothing, laptops, iPads and dorm room essentials. They laugh heartily at the college photos, knowing the stories behind some of the innocent looking ones Tobin choose. There’s a special window for gamers with games and game systems, video monitors, controllers, headsets and more and photos of their friend group in college playing their Mario Kart tournaments. The sports window features clothing, shoes and equipment with images of Tobin and Christen and their friends and families playing different sports. The holiday entertaining window displays bar items and specialty kitchen tools and cool décor.

The Christmas window bursts with colorful decorations and photos of just Tobin and Christen through the years from infant to adult during the Christmas season. It begins to snow while they inspect it and Tobin feels like it’s kismet, the big flakes gently coming down. She takes a moment to look up at the sky and open her mouth to let snowflakes fall on her tongue. 

“Honey,” Christen sniffles, feeling overwhelmed how Tobin and Allie did this. She feels incredibly emotional seeing how their lives have played out in these windows. Tobin looks over at her, her expression the same. 

“I love you,” Tobin says heartfully, leaning over and kissing her. Christen wraps herself around Tobin as they shuffle to the last window. Their families eagerly follow, enjoying the unexpected trip down memory lane. Allie discreetly positions herself on the other side, making sure she has the perfect view to film the proposal. 

“Oh, wow!” Christen exclaims with a laugh as her eyes dance around the final window, taking in the large, oversized jewels suspended from the ceiling and slowly revolving, casting colorful reflections. The rows of sharply dressed male and female mannequins display necklaces, bracelets and expensive belts, accessorizing the name brand, high-end clothing they wore. Custom displays featuring rings with enlarged photos below them with the brand name and features. Christen watches the monitor as a tasteful slideshow rolls along showing happy couples giving and receiving necklaces and bracelets and rings for Christmas. Soon the photos turn to proposals and Christen can’t stop smiling. She's enthralled and doesn’t even feel Tobin step back from her watching her as she her mouth drops open when a photo comes up of Cody proposing to Stacy and then Jeff proposing to Cindy. She blinks back tears seeing her sister Channing and then Tobin’s sisters Perry and Katie accepting rings from the loves of their lives. 

“Chris?” Tobin’s soft voice breaks her from the spell she’s under. She turns and is shocked to find Tobin down on one knee and she thinks it’s a dream until she hears her Mom let out a gasp and Ashlyn mutter holy shit. She inhales and heat flashes through her body, she feels as if her blood is rushing everywhere and her heart is beating so quickly. 

“Chris, I,” Tobin stops when a choked sound comes from her, she’s almost overcome from emotions and her eyes pooling with tears. She takes a deep breath and exhales with a cloud of frosty air, suddenly feeling more calm and this is the most natural thing she’s ever done in her life. “Chris, all these windows, this is what I want with you,” she says emotionally, “You are my everything, I love you so much and you being in my life is the greatest gift I’ve ever received. I want to share my years with you, have babies with you, grow old with you,” she sniffs again and wipes at her eyes. She swallows hard and beams up at her, holds up the ring and sniffles through a smile, “Will you marry me?” 

Christen bursts into tears, crying as she nods furiously, struggling to get her hand out of her pocket and pull off her glove, “Yes! Yes!” she cries sticking her shaking hand out and watches as Tobin makes several attempts to get the ring on since her hands are shaking as well. Their shocked group lets out cheers. Christen grabs Tobin by her jacket, pulling her up against her chest and kissing her hard. They wrap themselves together, both feeling that it’s just them in this moment, lost in each other. When they break free, they’re breathing hard from the kiss and their emotions, smiles plastered on their red cheeked, tear stained faces. 

“I love you,” Christen breathes out, making puffs in the frosty air. 

“I love you too,” Tobin replies, wiping her eyes again. 

Their families and friends converge on them, offering congratulations and marveling at how Tobin managed to put this together. Tobin’s Dad invites them all to the nearest bar, claiming they need to celebrate this joyous occasion properly. Allie confidently leads the group through the snow and around the corner to Block 37 and a short walk to The Dearborn, piling in loud and rowdy with happiness. The bar isn’t full by any means on Thanksgiving night, so they are able to spread out at multiple tables, taking off their coats and hovering around Chris and Tobin, wanting to see the ring close up under the lights. 

Tobin does a shot with her friends, thinking she deserves one after keeping this plan to herself for so long. Allie boasts about how the two put everything together and how amazing their boss Vlatko was about it. After hearing Allie and Tobin explain the reasoning behind each window panel, Stacy looks at Tobin closely. 

“Tobin, when did know this was how you’d do it?” Stacy asks from the stool across from the happy couple. 

Tobin grins, “When we visited you guys during the summer, I was surfing and it hit me,” she explains, smiling widely. She doesn’t see Christen’s eyebrows shoot high on her forehead learning that little piece of information. “I mean, she’s the definition of love, how could I not?” she leans over and gives Chris a peck on her cheek. 

“Aw,” her Mom wipes her eyes, “that is so sweet,” 

“That was pretty amazing,” Ashlyn agrees, handing over drinks to the newly engaged couple, “now Ali is going to want jewelry for Christmas,” 

“It’s only proper a queen should be decked out in jewelry,” Ali proclaims, wiggling the bare fingers on her right hand. 

“I got you a rock,” Ali laughs, turning to place a wet kiss on her wife’s cheek, “we’ll see what I come up with my wife.” 

Drinks are had and then Cody orders a bunch of pizzas that they devour, suddenly starving. Stacy and Cindy and chatter away about weddings and Chris shows the ring to their siblings and Tobin repeats her story. They stay for a couple of hours, the server happy to be busy and provides them with excellent service. She sends out two dessert pizzas on the house to celebrate the engagement and endears herself to them even more. Cody and Jeff insist on splitting the bill, ribbing each other good naturedly about both of them paying for their daughters’ wedding. When they peek out of the bar and see the snow has accumulated, Christen ordered Ubers for their families, sending the siblings to the hotels they were staying at, their friends back to their homes and a van for them and their parents. Everyone would be returning to their home tomorrow for brunch. 

The ride back to their house is sedate, everyone a little tipsy and tired. Tobin is sprawled against Christen’s side, half asleep next to her, exhausted from her work week and tonight. Her phone had been going off continually with congratulatory messages from coworkers and friends about the windows and asking if she was proposing to Chris. She’d reply tomorrow. 

They linger over a late night pot of tea and some cookies, tired but none of them exactly wanting the night to end. When they finally do turn in, Christen and Tobin tenderly make love, both still glowing from being officially engaged. In the morning when Tobin emerges from the shower, she finds Christen still in bed, sitting up and admiring her ring. 

“Like it?” Tobin asks as she towels off her hair. 

“I love it,” Christen replies, not looking up from it. “You designed this, didn’t you?” 

Tobin sits on the bed next to her, “I did,” 

“What do the four smaller diamonds represent?” 

“Our first four big life events,” Tobin smiles, seeing Chris tilting her hand this way and that. 

“Dating,” she states, “moving in,” she keeps looking, “moving here?” 

Tobin nods, “Yep,” 

“Buying our house?” 

“Nailed it,” Tobin kisses her, “I knew you’d figure it out,” 

“So,” Chris grins at her with an amused look in her eyes, “I can expect more jewelry with each big life event we have?” 

Tobin chuckles, “Of course,” she grins and kisses her softly, “as long as you don’t consider winning at chess on a Tuesday night a life event,” 

“I’ll beat you one day,” she replies swiftly with determination, shooting mock daggers at her, “and that day should be considered a life event.” 

“I won’t buy you diamonds for it,” Tobin cheeses. 

“I know,” Christen grins, “I’ll have to buy you one, so you’ll stop pouting at your loss.” 

“I better get the coffee started,” Tobin says and makes a move to get up but Christen grabs her arm, “Stay,” she says and Tobin looks at her expectantly. 

“Tobin, last night,” she begins, “it was so incredible. How you came up with that, I’m just so incredibly touched.” She sighs happily, “How you included the photos of our lives and then you end it and propose, there just isn’t a way for me to tell you how amazing it was,” she moves away and kneels on the mattress and Tobin swivels to face. “Tobin,” she says, “I love you so much. How you take care of me, how you’re always so supportive of me and my work and everything. How you always think of me and know what I need sometimes before I even do,” She brings her hands up from under the comforter revealing a small ring box, “Tobin, it would be my honor to call you my wife. To share our lives together and get the dog and have a family and do all of those things we saw in those windows. Those are the windows to our world and I can’t wait to jump in and start living it as soon as possible. Will you marry me?” 

“Aw, babe,” Tobin smiles, blown away and yet not completely surprised Chris would have a ring for her as well, “of course, I love you so much,” she leans in and kisses her, “it would my honor to call you my wife,” she hugs her. 

“Give me your hand,” Christen instructs and slides the ring on her finger. 

“It’s beautiful,” Tobin whispers, doing the same thing Chris was just doing, turning her hand from side to side. The ring is made from platinum with a large base holding a slightly recessed emerald cut diamond. As the band narrows there are two smaller diamonds on each side of the main stone. 

“You did it, too,” Tobin remarks, “with the four stones,” 

“I guess we think alike,” Christen smiles at her. 

“I love you,” Tobin smiles, kissing her hard. They deepen the kiss until they hear Cody’s laugh drift up from downstairs reminding them their parents are staying with them. 

“How long had you had this?” Tobin asks, looking at her ring. 

“Since summer,” Christen shakes her head, “I knew that day, too,” she adds quietly. “You were out there on the ocean, just sitting there with the waves and you looked so happy and content and beautiful. I knew right then, I had to propose to you,” she sighs with amusement, “I wanted the next chapters of The Plan to start as soon as possible. I went to the jeweler when we got back and start designing it,” 

“You designed this?” Tobin is surprised. Chris struggles with drawing a straight line. 

“I had help,” she sniggers, “but I knew you’d want to wear it and since you’re so active at work and at home, I wanted the stones recessed so you wouldn’t knock it out and I didn’t want it to be huge so it would get in the way,” 

“It’s perfect,” Tobin whispers looking up at her, “you’re so amazing, babe.” 

They tenderly kiss once more and then Tobin reluctantly heads downstairs while Christen gets dressed. In the bedroom, Christen can hear the reaction of their parents seeing Tobin’s ring and it makes her smile. She rushes to get her clothes on and join them. 

XXXX

December 19th 

Tobin is placing their suitcases near the front door when Christen calls out, her voice urgent. 

“Honey, come here!” 

Tobin unceremoniously drops the bags and jogs over down the hall to find her in the living room watching TV. She’s pointing at the screen. 

“Your windows!” she says excitedly, leaning forward with her eyes on the screen. 

“It’s become a viral sensation,” the female reporter states. She’s standing on the sidewalk out in front of Marshall Field’s with the Christmas windows in the background. “Since Thanksgiving Day when the windows were revealed, dozens and dozens of couples have to come to propose at the final one,” she says, “There was a proposal the very first night and since then, it’s become the place to get engaged in Chicago,” 

The video cuts to multiple clips of couples proposing and celebrating together. They’re from all walks of life and are different ethnicities and orientations. Clips range from mohawked men mixed with dressed up couples in suits and dresses, to girls in puffy coats to nervous young men proposing to their girlfriends. 

“I’d say, this theme of Love for this year’s windows has really resonated with the residents of Chicago,” the reporter is grinning widely, “it’s bringing so much happiness to everyone. I’m sure there will be more proposals next week for Christmas. Back you Dave,” she signs off. 

“Holy cow,” Tobin is astonished.

“See honey,” Christen’s eyes glisten, “those aren’t just windows to our world, others have found it too,” She rises from the couch and hugs her, “Love is love,” she whispers and kisses her. 

“And love wins,” Tobin whispers back and kisses her again. 

Fini

**Author's Note:**

> It must the incessant Lifetime holiday movies that are on in my house that is doing to this me. Here's another one- and there's a final one on the 26th as sort of a bonus. Hope you enjoy and be safe and celebrate however you do if you do. 
> 
> Peace to all.


End file.
